Are Wars the Solution?

Military chaos, so to speak, has taken hold in our region since the October 7 operation in Gaza and the subsequent wars in Lebanon: Israeli-Iranian military skirmishes, the fall of Assad, US strikes in Yemen, and then Israel’s rampage in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. Nonetheless, one remarkable takeaway stands out.
It is clear that no one can now brag about the lie of "resistance and defiance" without being held to account and paying a real price. Assad tried to juggle all contradictions, aligning with Iran and its militias at times, and on other occasions, trying to convince the Gulf states that he was willing to distance himself from Iran and its proxies. He eventually fell because this was not a time for games.
Hassan Nasrallah tried to project the idea that his party was supporting Gaza without actually doing anything to help. His real mission was to defend Iran, not the Palestinian cause or Lebanon, and he paid an emphatic price. His entire party was hit in the "Pager Strike," and he and the top brass were taken out by an airstrike that reached their underground base.
Meanwhile, Sinwar’s Hamas tried a ruse on everyone. After having long claimed that it did not want wars and was focused on rebuilding Gaza, it carried out the October 7 operation. After biting off more than it could chew, it hid behind its famous slogan: "Where is the Ummah? Where are the Arabs?"
Hamas then tried again to manipulate the post-war narrative, staging a bizarre scene as the prisoners were released and issuing hundreds of contradictory statements. Then came President Trump, who gave Netanyahu the green light.
The same applies to the Houthis. They undermined the security of the Red Sea for empty slogans, achieving nothing. Now, US strikes continue to rain down on the Houthis, the most politically ignorant player in the region.
Alright, is that provocative? Not at all. It is simply an overview of the facts. Just consider the recent remarks by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He recently said that his country has no proxies in the region, despite IRGC commanders having boasted of their control over four Arab capitals.
Khamenei made this claim despite previous statements to the contrary, his and those of other Iranian officials, about Syria and Hezbollah. Indeed, when Tehran understood that Washington’s upcoming meeting on how to deal with Iran would discuss a joint effort by the United States and Israel, Iran’s leadership realized that the moment of reckoning had arrived.
Just consider the statement by Iraq’s Foreign Minister. He stressed that his country is not part of the so-called "Resistance Axis" despite all past statements of the Popular Mobilization Forces and Iran-backed militias in Baghdad.
So, the question is: Are wars the solution? Certainly not. However, maintaining the status quo is not the solution either. We do not have to choose between wars and the destruction of states through the pretense of "resistance and defiance."
The most effective solution is setting a clear vision for a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel, ensuring that Iran returns to its natural geographic borders and abandons its pursuit of nuclear weapons, putting an end to the state destruction project, and rejecting militias.
Lifting sanctions on Syria through practical guarantees is also part of the solution, as is an end to Israel’s reckless actions there. Moreover, the exploitation of minority issues must be criminalized, just as terrorism is criminalized. If this is the vision, then war may be one of the means to achieve it, but waging war for its own sake is sheer madness.